Sexting is “the sending and/or receiving of sexually explicit text messages, photos, images, videos, or emails via SMS or other instant messaging services as well as on social media,” according to dictionary.com.

“Sexting has actually become a major problem in society,” states Fight the New Drug. “The truth is, sexting and porn are inseparably linked. And in many cases, it equals child pornography. That’s right, by law, minors (anyone under 18) who are caught sending, possessing, or distributing (i.e. sharing with friends) nude pictures, can face major criminal charges. It has gotten to the point in the U.S. where 8 states have enacted bills to protect minors from sexting, and an additional 13 states have proposed bills to legislation.”

For example, in 2015, the LASD Human Trafficking Bureau and its co-located partners in the Los Angeles Regional Task Force on Human Trafficking investigated 519 cases that involved nude photos of girls and boys as young as 8 years old.

Children as young as eight have been found sending sexually explicit content of themselves or others, using cell phones, mobile devices, and laptop webcams. Those same images are all being shared on third-party pornography websites as well.

Often, the person in the photo or video has taken no steps to conceal his or her identity or location. In many cases, they use their real names.

Once a picture or video has been shared, it’s almost impossible to remove it later. Even with the use of Snapchat, screenshots can be taken and shared before the image is deleted.

If a person is under 18 sends a sexually explicit message/photograph, he or she is creating and distributing child pornography.

Whether an individual creates, distributes, or views child pornography, it is a crime.

Eight students at a high school in Pennsylvania learned this the hard way. Ranging from ages 13 to 17, the teens were all accused of “using their cell phones to take, send, or receive nude photos of each other and in one case a short video of oral sex. That resulted in a felony child pornography charge for each minor.”

Unfortunately, news stories like this are very common.

Moreover, the criminal records often stay with these kids, and they risk being forced to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. Sexting is an ugly crime that makes a permanent mark on offenders’ records.

Worse of all, child predators and child porn collectors often find these images and further distribute them to others.

Signs Your Child May Be a Victim of Online Sexual Exploitation

If you observe any of the signs below, while it may be difficult, talk to your child about sex and pornography. It is crucial to protect your child from online exploitation.

Spending increasing amounts of time on the Internet

Becoming increasingly secretive—particularly around their use of technology

Shutting the door and hiding what they have on screen when someone enters the room. Not being able to talk openly about their activity online. Showing agitated behavior when answering their cell phone and needing to take the call in private

Developing a pattern of leaving the home for periods of time with no explanation of where they are going

Talk to your children about what they are doing online as well as offline. Discuss sexting, online bullying, and peer pressure.

Remind your child that once something is posted on the Internet it can never be removed. Ask what will happen to the suggestive photos sent to their boyfriend/girlfriend if they break up? A good rule of thumb is to never post a picture you’d be embarrassed to share with your parents.

Set expectations. Let your child know where you stand on what behavior is acceptable and what is not. Set clear boundaries and consequences.

Now that you’ve educated yourself about the dangers of sexting, pass this information on to everyone you know that has a child, is a child, or works with children. Education is the first step to eradicating this danger to our vulnerable youth.

The annual TIP Report, categorized into tiers based on how well governments meet the minimum requirements for the elimination of human trafficking, was set by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000.

If there is a single theme to this year’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, it is the conviction that there is nothing inevitable about trafficking in human beings. That conviction is where the process of change really begins—with the realization that just because a certain abuse has taken place in the past doesn’t mean that we have to tolerate that abuse in the future or that we can afford to avert our eyes. Instead, we should be asking ourselves—what if that victim of trafficking was my daughter, son, sister, or brother?

This year’s TIP Report asks such questions because ending modern slavery isn’t just a fight we should attempt—it is a fight we can and must win.

-John F. Kerry, Secretary of State

This year’s (2016) Trafficking in Persons Report focuses on the positive developments and continued challenges of preventing trafficking, and it considers how governments and the broader anti-trafficking community can effectively ensure that those who are vulnerable to human trafficking have the tools and opportunities to avert the risks of exploitation. (2016 TIP Report)

The TVPA defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:

➤ sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or

➤ the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another for the crime to fall within these definitions.

Here is a small sampling of some of the topics discussed in the TIP Report.

Vulnerability and Human Trafficking

Although human trafficking occurs everywhere, the common factor that can be found is the victim’s vulnerability to exploitation. Traffickers exploit these vulnerabilities. They prey on those who lack security and opportunity, coerce, and deceive to gain control.

To prevent this, governments, NGOs, and local communities must identify the vulnerable within their borders and develop effective strategies to increase awareness and prevent human trafficking.

Examples of vulnerabilities:

Refugees and migrants, including asylum-seekers

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals

Religious minorities

People with disabilities (physical & intellectual)

Those who are stateless

The poor

The uneducated / poorly educated

Gender

Ethnicity

Homelessness

Children

Research, Data Collection, and Program Evaluation

Given the complex nature of human trafficking, data is difficult to collect, causing gaps in knowledge of how to prevent human trafficking.

Reliable baseline information providing insight to causes, trends, and characteristics of human trafficking allow governments and civil societies to create an understanding and protect their more vulnerable members of society, including a more comprehensive understanding of root causes that are specific to states, communities, and cultural contexts. With this information programs can be developed to meet the specific needs of the people.

Raising Awareness

Awareness regarding the signs and dangers of human trafficking is an important factor in the fight against human trafficking.

Public awareness campaigns help to educate the community to be knowledgeable to the signs of human trafficking so they can inform law enforcement as well as targeting victims who may not even know they are a victim.

Campaign designers need to improve the way human trafficking victims are portrayed in their awareness ads. By showing a victim bound and beaten skews the public’s idea of what a victim looks like. Many are controlled solely by emotional and verbal threats and may be overlooked by the public as a potential victim.

Policies & Programs to Reduce Risk & Empower Vulnerable Individuals

Public awareness campaigns are one way to prevent human trafficking, but laws and policies must also be put in place to protect people from becoming vulnerable to traffickers such as:

Registering births

Administering citizenship and nationality

Identity documents

A lack of such documents renders a person vulnerable.

Documentation also allows residents and their families to utilize health, education, and employment services, all of which make a person less vulnerable.

Multilateral Collaboration

Human trafficking occurs in every country, on every continent. “Multilateral engagement is a key component of many governments’ effective anti-trafficking efforts.” (2016 TIP Report)

Many organizations are incorporating anti-trafficking policies into their own operating policies such as:

National security

Human rights

Violence against women and children

Migration management

Refugee protection

Business responsibility

Supply chain accountability

Economic development

By developing common goals, these organizations can help foster data collection and standardize research while providing a venue to identify new and emerging trends in human trafficking.

Enhancing Partnerships

To combat human trafficking, collaboration must take place. Survivors, NGOs, donors, academics, businesses, and governments need to work together, sharing strengths and supporting weaknesses. Creating a partnership is the only way to combat human trafficking on a global scale.

A Joint Effort

Preventing human trafficking is an enormous challenge, requiring the sustained efforts of many. Collaboration between government and nongovernmental stakeholders is critical to strengthening efforts to prevent modern slavery.

At its core, the global struggle to combat human trafficking is about political and public will. If ignored, traffickers will continue to reap enormous profits while communities suffer the many toxic effects.

But if trafficking is confronted head on, vulnerable populations will be empowered to control more fully their lives and protect themselves from the harms of human trafficking. (2016 TIP Report)

If you need help or suspect someone may be a victim of human trafficking in the U.S. call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-3737-888 or text Polaris at BeFree (233733).

Like this:

After months of planning and preparing, our survivor event was a complete success.

The Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force along with the Community Services Program and Salvation Army, have events every month held especially for the survivors of human trafficking. These events range from life skills classes to fun events like our movie and pizza night.

As a way to help support the task force, they have asked local faith groups and churches to help plan and carry out these events to free up their financial resources for things like food and shelter for the survivors.

The Stop Human Trafficking Action Group with the support of St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church, held a movie and pizza night. We featured the inspiring hit movie Seabiscuit and decorated with horse and racing-themed party decor.

After a filling meal of pizza and salad, we served popcorn and red licorice. The guests left with a little keepsake, too…homemade brownies and a horse-shaped cookie cutter.

A special thank you to all the volunteers who made this event a great success. We are already looking forward to next year’s movie night event.

Share this:

Like this:

Mission:

Build Futures is dedicated to taking homeless youth ages 18-24 off the streets of Orange County and providing them with the resources necessary to reach self-sufficiency. We begin by providing them with stable housing and one-on-one support.

Build Futures uses a structured, step-by-step program called “Steps to Success” which is tailored to each youth and connects them with services and resources needed to obtain and maintain long-term independence.

Kids in crisis have no home, no hope and no way out unless we get them off the street now.

Need:

Over 11,000 Orange County high school students are homeless, 2,773 are seniors aged 18 or turning 18.

California’s unsheltered homeless youth population is 79% of the total number of homeless youth.

Orange County has the third highest poverty rate in California at 24.2%.

Why Are They On The Streets?

Run away from sexual, physical, or emotional abuse

From homeless families

Thrown out of their home

Steps to Success

Initial Placement

Emergency Housing

Mentor

Phone

Transportation

Requirements for Work

California ID

Social Security Card

Transportation

Basic Needs

Food Stamps

Medical Insurance

Mental Health

Medical Issues

Legal Issues

Work Readiness

Resume

Job Skills

Job Placement

Childcare

Education/Life Skills

HS/GED Attainment

Academic/ Vocational

Financial Literacy

Independent Living

Permanent Housing

Living Wage

Driver’s License

Volunteer

Volunteer Coordinator- Coordinate and manage volunteers in one or more key functional areas.

Fundraising- Organize and implement a fundraiser. Bring donors in the door. Assist with a donor relations strategy and create a fund development plan.